Geared type taper attachments for vertical boring mills



T. ADDISON Dec. 6, 1955 GEARED TYPE TAPER ATTACHMENTS FOR VERTICAL BORING MILLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 16, 1954 IN VEN TOR. adwm/ Dec. 6, 1955 T. ADDISON 2,725,767

GEARED TYPE TAPER ATTACHMENTS FOR VERTICAL BORING MILLS ENTOR.

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WXM W Y @zv Quiz ism T. ADDISON Dec. 6, 1955 GEARED TYPE TAPER ATTACHMENTS FOR VERTICAL BORING MILLS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 16, 1954 J10 J12 104 J70 3 J00 INVENTOR.

J me s Wy JM United States Patent GEARED TYPE TAPER ATTACHIVIENTS- FOR VERTICAL BORING MILLS 1,

Application December 16, 1954, Serial No. 475,617

6 Claims. c1. 77-4 The invention relates to a vertical boring mill and particularly to a novel arrangement associated therewith which facilitates the cutting of multiple tapers on a given work piece. I

Heretofore in the art, it has been generally possible, with a machine of the type described, to produce only one taper on a given setup of the machine. This is due to the fact that a taper attachment consisting of a particular gear train is mounted on the feed box on one side of the machine and mechanically interlocked therewith. Depending on the particular taper to be cut, a given gear train is calculated and set into the taper attachment. The down feed rod and the cross feed screw'are interlocked through the taper attachment by means of the mentioned gear train, whereby either the screw or the rod is driven one from the other. With this setup, which has been conventional in the art, the machine operator chooses-the gears required to cut the particularly desired taper, arranges them in the taper box attachment, and proceeds to out the desired taper on the work piece. As the angle of the taper changes, a new calculation must be made, the first mentioned gears removed and a new set of gears inserted whereupon the operator may proceed to cut the new taper. It is thought obvious that this method of taper cutting is rather slow and presents many production problems especially where multiple piece parts are to be producedon a given machine.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a novel tapering attachment arrangement for a vertical boring mill, whereby a plurality of different tapered angles may be easily and" quickly machined without the necessity of individual setups,

it is a particular object of the invention to provide a rail head on the machine of the type described with multiple taper attachments, one being, mounted on each end of the head, and a control interlocking arrangement therebetween whereby two different tapers may be cut on a given work piece by the mere shifting from one taper control box to another.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and from an examination of the concerned drawings, wherein:

Figure. 1 is a fragmentary front. elevational view of a rail and. ram head for a vertical boring mill incorporating the novel features to practice the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary partially schematic view of the drive arrangement employed in the structure of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a side elevational view taken from the left of the structure shown in Figure 1.

it will be noted that in the drawings, the rail is illustrated without its vertical drive means, it being understood that said rail is conventionally mounted for vertical movement on vertical ways of a boring mill (not 2,725,767 Patented Dec. 6, 19.55

shown), as will be well understood by those skilled in the art. It will also be noted that Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the various gears and operating shafts in their true end elevational relation to one another while the gearing illustrated in Figure 2 has been rotated into the plane of the drawing to offer a clearer understanding of the particular train arrangement employed in the novel taper attachment arrangement.

Describing the invention in detail, a horizontal rail, indicated generally at 2, is conventionally mounted for vertical movement on the vertical ways (not shown) of a horizontal boring mill as is well understood by those skilled in the art. A ram head 4' is mounted on the ways 6 of the rail head 2, said ram head 4 being movable horizontally on said ways under the action of the driving means hereinafter more fully explained. The ram head 4 mounts a ram 8, said ram 8 being guided for vertical movement in the aperture 10 found in a housing 12 mounted on the head 4. A tool mounting block 14 is presented at the lower end of the ram 8, said tool block fixedly carrying a cutting tool 1 6' to engage an associated Work piece and perform the metal removal operation.

Considering Figures 1 and 2, it will be seen that a horizontally directed splined vertical feed rod 18 extends substantially from one end of the rail 2 to the other. Immediately below said rod, a horizontal feed screw 20 is arranged to parallel the feed rod 18 and also to extend.

from one end of the rail to the other. Considering Figure 2 particularly, it will be seen that a clamp gear 221's arranged to internally engage the splined periphery of the feed rod 18 whereby the gear 22 will be rotated as the feed rod 18 is rotated. Externally of the gear 22 are a plurality of wormed teeth 24, said wormed teeth engaging a gear 26, said gear 26 being keyed to a shaft 23 rotatably mounted within the ram head 4.- Another gear 3% is integrally formed on the, end opposite the mentioned end of the shaft 28, said other gear 30 engaging a rack 32 formed on the ram 8, whereby upon rotation of the shaft 28, the ram 8 is urged to move in a vertical direction due to the engagement between the rack 32 and the gear 30; This construction has been illustrated in the schematic view due to the fact that it is conventional and readily familiar to those skilled in the art. The horizontal feed screw 20 is provided with a series of screw threads 34 arranged in threadable engagement with a clamping member 36 which surrounds the feed screw 20; The clamping member 36 is in fixed engagement (not shown) with the ram head 4 whereby upon rotationv of the feed screw 20, the member 36 is urged to move horizontally and in opposite directions depending upon the direction of rotation of the feed screw 20. Movement of the member 36 carries the entire ram head 4 horizontally in sympathy with the particular rotation of the screw 20. Thus it will be understood that in normal operation of the boring mill, it is the action of the vertical feed rod and the horizontal feed screw that moves the tool 16 in a particular direction relative to therotating work piece.

Directing attention to Figure 1 and particularly the right hand end ofthe rail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a feed box, indicated generally at 40, is provided withinthe right hand end of therail. The feed box consists of a series of gear trains and clutch units, whereby power from a source (not shown) at a remote point on the machine may be transmitted independently to the screw 26) and rod 18 by means of the operation of the various clutches. Again this structure has not been shown in detail because it is conventional and familiar to those skilled in the art. However, Figure i does show the operating clutch levers 42 and 44, whereby the machine operator controlsmoyement of the rod 13 and screw 20, respectively. Movement of the lever 42 in a clockwise direction, that is, to the left, causes vertical feed rod 18 to move the tool downwardly toward the table. Movement of the lever 42 to the right or in a counterclockwise direction causes movement of the feed rod 18, whereby the tool is moved upwardly or away from the work carrying table. The lever 42 may also be left in the neutral position illustrated whereby there is no direct engagement between the power source and the feed rod 18, hence the rod remains motionless and the tool is not moved either upwardly or downwardly in a vertical direction. The same general scheme applies to the lever 44, that is, movement of the lever 44 to the left or in a clockwise direction causes a rotation of the feed screw 20, whereby the ram head 4 is moved to the left as shown in Figure 1. In the alternative, movement of the lever 44 in a counterclockwise direction causes a rotation of the screw 20, whereby the ram head 4 moves to the right as seen in Figure 1. Again with the lever 44 in the neutral position illustrated, there is no direct mechanical engagement between the power source and the feed screw 20, hence the screw remains motionless and the ram head 4 will not move in either direction.

Considering the particular subject matter of the disclosed invention, it will be seen that a tapering attachment or box 46 is mounted on the right hand end of the rail immediately outboardly of the integral feed box 40.

A shaft 50 is mounted for rotation in the box attachment 46, said shaft 50 being mechanically connected (not shown) with a power feed from the feed box 40, said power feed being controlled by the clutch lever 44 heretofore mentioned. That is, when the clutch lever 44 is in neutral position, there is no power transmitted from the feed box 40 to the shaft 50 and thence into the gear train provided in the taper attachment 46. A similar shaft 52 is provided at another point in the taper attachment box 46, said shaft being hooked to a clutch controlled power feed (not shown) in the feed box, said power feed being controlled by the clutch lever 42. Again it will be noted, with the clutch lever 42 in the neutral position, power is not transmitted to the shaft 52 and thence to the gearing arrangement in the taper attachment. The shafts 50 or 52 furnish the power source for the tapering operation as will be hereinafter more fully explained and which one is used depends on the type of taper it is desired to cut. Considering Figure 2 and particularly the tapering attachment 46, it will be seen that the vertical feed rod 18 extends into the box 46 and has a gear 54 fixedly mounted on the end thereof. The gear 54 meshes with another gear 56, said gear 56 being fixedly keyed to the power engaged shaft 52 at one end thereof.

At the other end of the shaft 52 another gear 58 is fixedly mounted, said gear 58 meshing with another gear 60 which is mounted on idle shaft 62. The gear 60 is a multiple gear on shaft 62 having another portion 64 rotatable therewith and in geared engagement with a gear 66 which is rotatably mounted to turn about a clutch shaft 68. A multiple tooth clutch 70 is mounted on the outboard end of the shaft 68, said multiple tooth clutch being fixedly secured to the shaft 68 to rotate therewith. Teeth 72 are formed on the clutch 70 to engage similar teeth 74 formed on the gear 66. It will thus be seen that when the clutch 70 is in engagement, the teeth 72 and 74 interlock and power is transmitted from the gear 66 through the clutch 70 to the shaft 68 or vice versa. In the alternate with the clutch 70 disengaged, no power will be transmitted between the shaft 68 and the gear 66. The opposite end of the shaft 68 has a gear 76 keyed thereon, said gear 76 being in the alternate engageable with an idle gear 78 or a reversing gear 80 depending upon the position of an angle reverse cam 82. The angle reverse cam 82 is conventional to the boring mill art and comprises an eccentrically mounted gear 80, whereby upon rotation of the cam 82, the center distance between the gear 76 and the gear 80 may be changed whereby the action of gear 76 may be in the alternative transmitted directly to the gear and thence to a gear 81 on the shaft 50 or through the idle gear 78 and thence to the gear 80 and subsequently to the gear 81 of the shaft 50. It will be well understood by those skilled in the art that this briefly described arrangement provides a reversing feature by the simple expedient of the selective insertion or omission of an idle gear in the particular train employed.

A gear 84 is also keyed on shaft 50 adjacent the gear 81,said gear 84 being meshed with a gear 86 fixedly mounted on one end of the horizontal feed screw 20. Thus it will be seen that an entire gear train is provided in the taper attachment which mechanically interconnects the feed screw 20 with the feed rod 18, said train being breakable at the gear tooth clutch 70 at the discretion of the machine operator. In this connection it should be understood that the lever 90, shown in Figure 1, controls the operation of the clutch 70. That is, when the lever 90 is in its extreme position to the right or in its extreme counterclockwise direction shown at 92, the clutch 70 is disengaged and the taper turning attachment 46 is not engaged and the machine may be controlled in the regular method for regular turning by use of the levers 42 and 44. On the other hand, when the lever 92 is moved to its extreme left or clockwise direction shown by invisible lines 94, the clutch 70 is engaged and the gear train of the taper attachment 46 mechanically interlocks the feed screw and the down feed rod.

Directing attention to Figures 1 and 2 and particularly the left hand ends thereof, it will be seen that another taper attachment or box is mounted on the left end of the rail 2. The tapering attachment here employed consists of a gear 102 fixedly mounted on the left end of the feed rod 18, said gear 102 being engageable with a cam gear 104 mounted on the end of the cam shaft 106. It should be noted that a cam arrangement 108 is similar to the cam arrangement 82 disclosed and described relative to the right end taper attachment 46 and serves the same function in that by the particular location of the cam 108, the mechanical connection between the gear 104 may be directly with the main gear 110 or to the main gear through an idle gear 112 mounted on shaft 114. The gear 110 is fixedly mounted at one end of a clutch shaft 116, said clutch shaft 116 having a saw tooth clutch 118 mounted on the opposite end thereof. A gear 120 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 116 immediately inboardly of the clutch 118, said gear 120 having teeth 122 engageable with teeth 124 of the clutch 118 when the clutch 118 is engaged. This clutch arrangement is similar to clutch 70 described relative to the right end taper attachment 46 and operates to mechanically interlock the various gears of the taper attachment train whereby the train may be continuous from the rod 18 to the screw 20. The gear 120 engages another gear 126 which in turn is rotatably mounted on the shaft 128. The gear 126 is a multiple gear having another gear portion 130 of different diameter engaging gear 132 which is mounted on shaft 134. Shaft 134 is a rotatable shaft and has another gear 136 fixedly mounted at one end thereof. The gear 136 mates with the gear 138 as will be seen in Figure 4, it being understood that the disclosure of Figure 2 is not accurate in view of the fact that the various gear centers have been rotated into a two dimensional plane.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that a pair of solenoids 140 and 142 are'operatively connected with a clutch arm 144, said clutch arm 144 serving to move the clutch 118 into and out of engagement with gear 120. The solenoid 140, when it is energized, will urge the shaft 144 to move and bring clutch 118 into engagement with the gear 120 while the solenoid 142, when it is energized, will throw the clutch 118 out of engagement with gear 120. The solenoids 140 and 142 are electrically interlocked (not shown) with a control station 146 mounted in the right end tapering attachment 46. A button 148 may answer saidfigure. It will beznoted thatin'a vertical tboringrmill,

the work piece 160 is-securely mounted on a-table (not shown), said table being rotatable about a central axis indicated at 162 as will be well :understood by those skilled in the art. The invention disclosed has particular utility where a plurality'oftapersare to Ebe cut in a. given workpiece as, for example, the :piece 160 is to have a first taper at 164 at an approximate 520 from-the vertical, and a second taper166 at an approximate 20 :from the horizontal. These illustrated tapers are, of course, not critical. Heretofore :in 'the-:art, itrwas :necessary to cut taper 164, recalculate the gear train used in the tapering attachment, substitute new change ,gears, and then proceed to cut the taper 166. In .thepractice *offithe disclosed invention, it would only be necessary to make one primary setup and cut the taper 164 utilizing one tapering attachment and when the tool reaches a bending point 168, switch to the other tapering attachment and the machine will proceed to cut the taper 166 without any time necessary to change the gear train. It will thus be readily appreciated that the invention has particular utility in production operations wherein pieces of the same contour are repeatedly produced.

To cut the taper 164, the tapering attachment on the left hand end to the rail is utilized. To cut any angle between the vertical and 45 to the left end, taper attachment 100 is utilized and as a consequence the vertical feed rod becomes a driving member and the horizontal feed screw 20 is driven from the vertical feed rod. To cut the taper 164, the lever 44 is put in neutral position, thereby assuring that power will not be fed through the shaft 50 into the right end attachment. The clutch operating lever 42 is engaged thus providing for power to be delivered to the shaft 52. The control lever 92 is moved to the right or in the regular turning position thus disengaging the clutch 70 and rendering it operative to the gear train in the right end attachment 46. Power from the shaft 52 is transmitted to the fixed carried gear 56 which is in engagement with the gear 54, whereby the vertical feed rod is urged to rotate. The rotary motion of the feed rod 18 causes the ram 8 to move vertically via transmission of said motion through the shaft 28. With the shaft 18 rotating, the gear 102 additionally rotates, whereby power is transmitted selectively through the gears 104 and/or 112 to the gear 110 on the clutch shaft 116. In order to utilize the left end attachment, the button 148 must be depressed energizing the solenoid 140 and engaging the clutch 118, whereby power or motion of the shaft 116 is transmitted through the clutch 118 to the gear 122 and from there through the train arrangement of interengaging gears to the gear 138 on the horizontal feed screw 20. Thus it will be seen that for cutting the taper 164 the left end taper attachment is utilized and the horizontal feed screw is driven from the vertical feed rod. The particular ratio of speeds between the vertical rod and the horizontal feed screw is determined by means of the change gears 102, 130, and 132 and is dependent upon the desired tapered angle as the taper is produced by varying the relative speeds between the feed rod 18 and the screw 20 as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

In the preliminary setup before actual machine operation, the desired gear ratio between the rod and the screw to cut the taper 166 is also determined and the gears that will obtain said ratio are put in the train at the change gears 54, 60, and 81.

When the taper 164 is completed and the point 168 on the work piece is reached, the operator merely depresses "button "thereby operating the solenoid 140 and disengaging the clutch ll-8, whereby the left end .taper attachment 100 is removed from the mechanical train. At the same time the operator moves the lever '92 to the left which engages clutch 70 and connects therod and the screw by means of the gear train offered by the right end tapering attachment 46. To operate the right end attachment and cut angles from the horizontal to '45", it is necessary to drive the down feed :rod from the horizontal feed screw. Hence the operator additionally must place the friction clutch lever 42 in neutral position andengage the friction clutch lever 44,

whereby power is fed to the shaft 50 and to the carried gears 82 and 84 and thence directly to the horizontal feed screw 20 and through the gear train to the vertical feed rod 18. The machine then proceeds to cut the taper 166.

It will be noted that the angle reverse cam 82 in the right end tapering attachment 46 has -'two positions and 172. When the plunger on the reverse cam is in the position 170, the combined feed will be in and down or out and up when considering tool movement relative to theaxis of rotation 162. By changing the'plunger to the position 172, the combined feed will be in and up or out and down. This arrangement will provide tool motion to directly correspond with any desired taper. It will be noted that the in or out motion of the tool when considering the right end taper attachment 46 is determined by the position of the clutch lever 44, that is, with the clutch engaged to the left, the tool motion will be in and with the clutch lever 44 engaged to the right, the tool motion will be out. The operative structure relative to the angle reverse cam 104 in the left end tapering attachment 100 is identical with that described by the right end reverse cam 80. The cam 102 has two positions 170 and 172. When the plunger in the reverse cam is engaged in position 170, the combined feed will be down and in or up and out while with the plunger engaged in position 172, the combined feed will be up and in or down and out. Again the down or up feed is determined by the operation of the clutch lever 42, that is, downward movement is extended by moving the lever 42 to the left, as seen in Figure 1 while upward movement is extended by moving the lever 42 to the right as seen in Figure 1.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a novel arrangement which facilitates the turning of a plurality of different tapers on a given work piece and avoids excessive down time for machine setup, especially where the machine is operated to produce a plurality of identical parts.

I claim:

1. In a vertical boring mill, a horizontal rail, a head horizontally movable across the rail, a cutting tool carrying ram supported by the head for substantial vertical movement, separate taper turning attachments mounted on opposite ends of the rail, a feed screw and a feed rod rotatably mounted in the rail and extending between the attachments, a mechanical connection between the screw and the head, whereby movement of the screw is translated into horizontal movement of the head, another mechanical connection between the rod and ram, whereby movement of the rod is translated into substantially vertical movement of the ram, said rod and screw being in operative engagement with both of said attachments, and control means associated with the attachments, whereby one or the other of the attachments may be selectively connected to provide a power train between the rod and the screw.

2. A vertical boring mill according to claim 1, wherein each of said taper turning attachments comprises a gear train operatively disposed between the rod and the screw and said control means comprises an operating clutch in each train arrangement to alternately and selectively interlock each train with the rod and the screw.

3. In a vertical boring mill, a vertically movable rail mounted on the mill, a head mounted for unidirectional movement on the rail, a ram supported by the head for movement in a substantially angular direction relative to the direction of movement of the head, cutting tool means carried by the ram, separate taper turning attachments mounted on opposite ends of the rail, a feed screw operative to move the head, a feed rod operative to move the ram, said rod and screw being operatively connected at opposite ends thereof to both of said taper turning attachments, said attachments being operative to alternately and selectively provide a gear train between the rod and the screw, one of said attachments being operative to drive the rod from the screw and the other of said attachments being operative to drive the screw from the rod.

4. A vertical boring mill according to claim 3, and including an operable clutch in each of said gear trains in the respective tapering attachments and control means for said clutches, whereby the trains may be selectively cut out of operation.

5. In a vertical boring mill, a rail, a head member movable on the rail, a ram member carried by the head member and movable therein relative to the rail, the direction of movement of the members being angularly related, a feed screw operatively, connected to move one of said members and a feed rod operatively connected to move the other of said members, separate means interconnecting the feed screw and feed rod and control means connected to said separate means, whereby each of said'separate means'may be alternately and selectively utilized to provide a power train between the rod and the screw.

6. A vertical boring mill according to claim 5, wherein said separate means comprises taper turning attachments having gear trains therein mechanically interconnecting the opposite ends of the rod and screw, and said control means comprises clutch means to alternately and selectivelyoperate the separate gear trains.

Parker Apr. 29, 1924 Bullard et al. June 20, 1944 

